When Regina woke this morning to drop Henry off at his overnight retreat, never would she have thought that today of all days every wish and prayer she had made over the years would be answered. But there Emma was, fingers forever clasped with hers, alive. The realization, though not new yet still amazing, would strike Regina at odd points throughout the day and halfway through a story or as they walked from room to room, Regina would stop them and kiss Emma. Emma shared the same sentiment as she would continuously tug Regina closer to her, as if their bodies just couldn't get enough.

Daylight gave way to evening, and the emotional exhaustion of the day finally caught up to both women as they sat in the living room, combing through the box of Emma's belongings Regina had kept in her room. Emma shared the pictures she had drawn in rehab. Regina presented the entire collection of her letters. As their words shook and their bodies tingled with every minuscule yet promising touch, their minds gave way to sleep as they curled together on the couch.

Emma couldn't remember the last time she had fallen asleep so soundly with no haunting memories or waking every hour just to grab her bearings, but with a throw pillow tossed over her face, and Regina nestled against her body like she was the comfiest mattress in the world, Emma felt safe, secure, carefree. A touch of a smile graced her lips as she gripped Regina tighter, breathing in slowly and exhaling deeply as not to wake her.

Their talk today just only skimmed the surface, but to know that they had another chance lifted the burden off their shoulders. Emma was nowhere near perfect when it came to her rehab, and Regina's progress had been flipped on its head completely, but they were never one for normal circumstances, and if this was one more obstacle in their course, then at least they had the chance to do it together.

Together.

They were finally together again. That touch of a smile bloomed across her face as she shimmied her head from the pillow and pressed a kiss to the top of Regina's head.

"Go to sleep," Regina muttered groggily, fisting Emma's shirt in a tight grip and buried her head into Emma's neck.

"Okay." She closed her eyes, her palm drawing lazy circles on Regina's back under her shirt, and let her mind relax. She'd wake again because this was no dream.


She woke less than an hour later with a start when she heard the latch of the front door unlock and open and heavy boots shuffle at the bottom of the foyer. By the time her senses fully kicked in, a voice boomed overhead.

"What the hell, Regina?!"

Both women sat up sharply, the pillow sliding off of Emma's face and bopping the top of Regina's head before falling to the floor. August, standing paralyzed above them, gawked at Emma like he had seen a ghost.

"No way."

Emma squinted up at him as Regina, still sleep-ridden, shook her head and pushed them back flat on the couch. "Go away," the brunette muttered.

"Emma!" August screamed in joy. Being physically pulled from sleep was not something Regina had anticipated as she yelped when August grabbed her arm and pulled her off Emma, all but tossing her to the other side of the couch before swooping in and grabbing Emma by the waist. She almost evaded his attempts, but seeing the grin on his face, she let him lift her up like a rag doll and swing her onto her feet in a bone-crushing hug. "Are you freaking kidding me?! Emma!"

"You're suffocating me," she groaned.

"Good!" He squeezed tighter before finally setting her down on her feet. Regina grinned, smiling fondly at them as she repositioned herself into the crook of the couch. August beamed at her, holding her face between his palms as he scanned her with wild eyes. Then he flicked her temple hard. "Where the hell were you?"

"Ow!" She pressed a hand against her temple and used her free one to push him back.

He ignored that and moved to hug her again. "Jesus Christ, you're back. I knew it. I knew it. I told you, Regina!"

"You did," Regina agreed quietly as she stood.

All Emma could do was laugh as she hugged her brother back, and when he finally released her just an inch, Regina pressed an arm to her shoulder and motioned to the entrance of the room. Leaving them alone, August held Emma at arm's length and gave her another examination. Then he smacked her shoulder. "Idiot!"

"Dude!" She rubbed her right shoulder as a low hum of pain shot through to her elbow and phantom hand.

"Shit." August finally took in her state and leaned in to help massage the muscle there. When she hissed and stretched out her arm, his voice softened. "Jesus, Em."

"Just a scratch," she offered lamely with a shrug before squinting at him again. "Where's your beard?"

"Where's your hand?"

"Probably in a landfill by now," she answered smartly.

"Why are you wearing a cosmesis?" August examined her harness and the flesh-like covering of her hand. "You can't do shit with this."

"My other one's upstairs."

"Upstairs?" He waggled his eyebrows knowingly, earning a blush and eyeroll from the blonde. He shook his head unable to keep his eyes off her. "You gave us a scare."

Her smile wavered. "I was pretty scared myself."

He brought her in a hug again, more gently this time, and she rested her head against his shoulder with a content sigh. "You're not going back there."

"Well, I don't know…" Emma teased in his arms.

He shook his head with a firm command. "You're staying, soldier."

She grinned up at him. "Yes, sir."


It had been a day. That was all Emma could think. One wonderful, surreal, yet very real day. This morning Emma was in Boston getting discharged from rehab, and now she was in Storybrooke, with Regina, and even August now. She had touched Regina. They had talked. They had fought. They had cried. But she was here. She was home.

Emma sat around the kitchen island with Regina's hand in hers on the counter as August whipped around the kitchen making them dinner. An Italian aria blared from a counter radio as he sang loudly and strangely in-tune, and for all his fluttering around in the kitchen, all he had made were chicken burgers and fries. Watching as he moved so freely around the kitchen without Regina having to lift a finger made the blonde ache for the time she had missed. Regina had mentioned August had lived with them for a spell, but seeing the evidence of their comfortableness made it all the more real. But she had now. She had the future. And it was all worth it.

That night after she bid August goodbye with a tight-gripped hug and a few kisses to his cheek, she followed Regina back up the stairs. Like earlier that day, Regina had led Emma by the hand; constantly looking back to make sure she was following. As they entered the master suite, the thickness in the air was different. It wasn't charged with sexual desire or wrought with awkward tension. The undercurrent electricity between them let them know, once again, that this was real. All their waiting had been for this moment. Without words, their lips instinctively sought one another in the moonlight as their fingers slid against flesh. Every wound between them had been ripped open, raw for the world to see, but it was just them, nursing each other back to health, bracing each other as their clothes fell and their moans mingled. Their bodies touched. Their sweat mixed. And as they found release, falling into the pleasure the other was bringing, they fell into the knowledge that this wouldn't be the last time. This was their beginning.


For a population of less than three thousand people, it was bizarre to see how much changed in three years. The structures within the town remained as timeless as the small hamlet itself, but the next afternoon when Emma and Regina slid into the Benz and began the short journey into town, Emma almost forgot that the people weren't as stagnant.

She wasn't surprised to find people out and about enjoying the cool May weather, but when she saw Mary Margaret and David Nolan, of all people, holding hands so freely as they walked down the street, her eyes snapped open and her lips parted in shock. Emma sat up in her seat and strained her neck to get a better look, but Regina just scoffed and said, "Kat deserved better."

They were gone before Emma could question it, and then they found themselves in the downtown core. Granny's Diner was getting busy with the lunch rush. She wondered if they still sold apple pancakes? She smirked when she saw Ruby out on the patio. The waitress, still as leggy as ever, was already taking advantage of the warmer weather sporting her cutoffs and was grinning at a family as she bent down to pick up a toddler reaching her stout arms up at her.

"Hey," Emma said in wonder. "That's—that's Ashley and—Jesus is that her kid?"

"Alexandra," Regina nodded. "She has a tiny crush on Henry. It's adorable."

And though she had seen him hours earlier, Emma's eyes were drawn to the Volkswagen she hadn't seen in years as August stepped out of it, clasping the back of an older man who met him outside the shop. "That's Marco?"

Regina nodded again as she slowed the vehicle and turned left. "He also heads the support group I attend."

"You think it's safe out there?" Emma joked as Regina pulled up into the empty parking lot where the Boy Scout troop was set to arrive. The tease was meant to be light-hearted, but in the bubble they had created in the past 36 hours, somewhere deep inside Emma was worried that it was going to pop. It was Sunday. Emma was discharged. Regina didn't have to work. Henry was coming home soon. But people change; she'd seen that first hand, and sure Regina had spent the better part of the last twelve hours convincing her that she was still very much a part of their lives, but anxiety couldn't be overruled in one night. She took a breath and continued navigating the slowly filling parking lot.